


Avery's Dilemma

by robogalaxy



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: (i guess. poor dude), Awkwardness, Dialogue Heavy, Frenemies, Gen, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Italics, Mild Language, One Shot, Walking In On Someone, a LOT of italics lol, but also don't be nosy about avery's troubles, never vent to klara. that's the lesson, venting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27609518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robogalaxy/pseuds/robogalaxy
Summary: How do you learn Amnesia? Avery needs to know.Hemustknow.
Relationships: Kurara | Klara & Savory | Avery
Comments: 15
Kudos: 27





	Avery's Dilemma

Avery wakes. He is not having a good morning. It isn't because of the way his hair stands on end due to his constant twists and turns in his slumber, nor is it the constant lingering of self doubt that invades his heart in his nightmares - oh, no. It was heavier than that - a weight he carries on his shoulders sadly and with shame.

_All I needed was to ask a simple question._

Honest mistakes happen. He does not like how this mistake of his replays in his mind on an endless loop, however. Avery knows that the follies of man dip their toes into everyday life, but of all things to happen to him? He is not a dumb man and he refuses to hear it from anyone (except Klara, but stupid is as stupid does), and he knows that people in relationships take time for themselves. It's just common knowledge that married couples—

_Relax, Avery!_ his thoughts interrupt before he decides to lose his mind and sob for the sole fact that he can't think of anything else to do, _Maybe, and just maybe, it was a nightmare! Yes, one that requires a thorough analysis once I have the time to sit down and wonder if it was caused by something I ate for dinner... but a nightmare nonetheless! That's all it could be! No other reason for this. Calm yourself, Avery!_

"Avery! Are you coming in here for breakfast," calls one half of the issue in her voice, the one he used to only know through _normal_ , _platonic_ , and _public_ conversations, "or are you not hungry this morning?" 

"Oh, no, I'm... feeling a tad ill, truthfully, but thank you," he brazenly lies through his teeth, "I'll be out shortly." Avery tries to slap his face and forget the night before.

_Well, it wasn't a nightmare!_

_Oh, Arceus, it WASN'T a nightmare._

Pondering too much on the issue will only ruin his day further. He should get dressed! Yes, yes, clear the mind. After all, people are much nicer when they're dressed. Much, _much_ nicer.

He looks into the mirror. 26 is the number on his uniform - it is also the record number of seconds where what Avery saw does not agonize him. He wishes the brim of his top hat could blind him for the rest of his life or that he could coerce Alakazam into stabbing his eyes out for a temporary fix. 

_Arceus, what if they knew I was there? Noticed my presence for the seven seconds I was there before I scurried off in a super effective Teleport? Will this affect my standings here in the dojo? A top student, brought down a peg because he dared enter into something so personal? It wasn't intentional! I can't let this ruin my day! I can't let my accidental wandering put me under the wrath of an angered Master Mustard! I had no intentions of—_

"AVERY!" yells a familiar and shrill voice, "we're waiting for you to eat and if I have to wait any longer, I'm coming in there to drag you out myself!"

"Klara, be nice to him," replies another student at the table, "Miss Honey said he felt sick. Let him take his time." 

"Whatever..." 

He's waited long enough, and thus Avery tries to think about his training with Klara that afternoon. His mind races with the banter they'll share, only building each other up during their battles. Klara was annoying, yes, and so much so that it aches Avery, but at this point he'll take anything that doesn't repeatedly remind him of ... personal moments. 

"Oh, Avery, finally," Honey says as she waves happily, signaling a seat at the table, "was getting worried about you! I thought you'd never come." 

_Oh, I thought you wouldn't either, considering the LENGTHY amount of time I had to mull this over before you and Master came out of that room, but apparently you succeeded. Good on you two, I suppose. An extreme lack of good on my part, though._

"Ah, well," Avery stutters, "I just wanted to confirm I was well enough to sit with all of you! Spreading an illness is irresponsible, after all... much like ignoring your schedule or, say, perhaps, forgetting to lock a door?" He's speaking from experience on that last one, though the sour notes in his voice go unnoticed by everyone in that room; perhaps, it is much better they remain in the dark. 

"Or making us wait to eat," Klara snarls as she finally blots her heavily applied lipstick off on a napkin so Honey doesn't get onto her for leaving Audino Pink #3 lipstick stains on her fancy dishes, "that's really insensitive of you! Don't you agree? You! Girl sitting across from me!"

"What?" 

"Was it insensitive of Avery to leave us waiting like this?" 

"What do I know, Klara!" the poor student stutters, "It's better if he didn't come earlier if he thought he was sick..."

" _Hmph_ ," Klara sighed, "I suppose so. You win this one, I guess." 

Avery settles with his breakfast in front of him, and within a few minutes he's laughing with the other students. A newly found peace of mind is exactly what he needs in the moment.

_Klara must know I'm going to teach her not to tamper with my elegance in battle—_

"Looks like everyone's bright eyed this morning! Not a bad thing to wake up to!" a quite familiar voice rings. It is yet another one Avery used to only associate with _common,_ _personable_ , _scholarly_ conversations, but sadly that has been altered. He's the other half of Avery's issue, Mustard is, and it is as if all the hard work of repressing his thoughts was in vain.

_Oh no, okay, never mind. Lost focus. Only seeing the worst again. Thanks for that, dear Master. Really, I get it, I know you run this place, sir, and you too have to partake in the meal...but hearing your voice. My poor, poor memory floodgates have opened yet again._

"Excuse me," Avery blurts out as he covers his mouth, "I've—" 

He's immediately excused, both Mustard and Honey watching worriedly as poor Avery practically vanishes from the group to get sick. A door shuts behind him and echoes throughout the building. It's silent for a moment before the adults shake their heads and give off an air of parental concern.

"Aw, what poor luck," Mustard shakes his head, "he seemed quite fine yesterday. What's gotten into the poor kid?"

"Beats me," Honey mumbles, "but I'll check up on him later, love. He needs space right now, of course."

"That'd be the best choice,” Mustard agrees.

_Haha_ , Klara laughs while her eyes watch Avery scamper towards the washroom and her hands carefully cut into the delicacy that is a home-cooked Master Dojo breakfast, _he is on some MAJOR bullocks this morning! People don't get sick just like that! No way he's recently been around anything that would turn his tummy in knots like that!_ Her worries do not yet lie with exposing him, though — she still has ample time to sweet talk the fellow students into listening to her old album before she goes to heckle her dearest friend.

_It'll just be so famous in retrospect one day, you know?_

"If it'll make you two feel better," lovely Klara says with a smile as she turns to those in charge, "I can go check up on Avery after breakfast! You wouldn't mind that, would you, Master? Miss Honey?"

"What? Why would we deny you doing that? You're so sweet for that offer!" Honey smiles with a raised eyebrow. Mustard tries his best to hide a confused expression, as he also knows Klara is never this kind nor has Avery ever gotten this sick. He has his suspicions, of course – he's not an idiot – but which of the many possibilities was the correct one was uncertain at the time.

_Is it about the stamina training I made the students go through last night during ... huh. Maybe they were a bit too much. Avery's a fragile lad, after all! It's not rude to say that! If he got sick at the sight of me for making him go through those exercises, then I suppose I've made a mistake...it DOES feel like I did something amiss._

* * *

Avery sits on his bed. He's fine, by the way, not a single wave of nausea rushing over him, but quick thinking forced him to pretend. Now's the time for him to start coughing up a storm; after all, nobody throws up and has their throat remain unscathed. Does Avery like that he's lying? Not necessarily, but one must do what they can to ensure their own sanity; this includes protecting oneself from reliving unpleasant moments in time.

_I'm going to sleep_ , he thinks, _and hopefully for a long enough time that it wipes my consciousness as clean as a newly groomed Furfrou. Or, maybe if I ask kindly enough, Hyde will let me slam my head against the Cram-O-Matic to cause temporary amnesia! Perfect! Aha, oh, Avery! You absolute pinnacle of elegance! Grace! Intelligence! No wonder you're the dojo's rising star—_

"Something smells Magikarp-y about this all, Aves," rings a falsely saccharine voice, followed by the sounds of heels clacking against the wooden floors, "and I'm getting to the bottom of it!"

"Uh..." Avery stumbles. For lack of a better word, he's baffled. Why is SHE here? Klara was prone to agitating him with the entirety of her being, so the fact she’s in here with him should really be worrying him, “Excuse me, Klara? Something smells _what_?"

"Magikarp-y. You know. I have my doubts about this whole 'you being sick' thing."

"...you mean _fishy_ ," Avery sighs all while fighting the urge to take the pillow behind him and smudge Klara's intricate makeup, but the remembrance of other messy lipstick stains stops him in his tracks, "something smells _fishy_ about it all."

"Magikarp-y!" she stamps her foot on the ground with an annoyed pout, "It means about the same thing, doesn't it? Magikarp are fish, correct?"

"Klara, I don't have time for this... but _fine_. You've gotten me," he sighs with hesitation, "you've figured me out. I'm not sick."

"Oh, a point for me! I'm leading, right?" Klara smiles. Avery ignores her completely.

"I've had something happen and if you want me to relay the true story of why I am so upset," Avery says while he feels the pang of an oncoming headache and tries to erase the sight that was the state of disarray the Master and Honey's sheets were in for the brief seven seconds he saw them, "you'll refrain from trying to make that phrase of yours stick."

"Wow, okay..." Klara pouts as she folds her arms and plops herself down next to Avery on his bed, kicking her legs back and forth against the bed frame, "that's a bit rude. But thank goodness my love for getting into other people's business overrules my love for being a trendsetter!"

_Hooray for that_ , Avery thinks in the most sarcastic tone possible, _but beggars can't be choosers when someone is willing to hear them out. Besides, if Klara knew... she'd hate me._

_For this alone, she shall be my confidant._

"Well, I must warn you in advance... it's not very appropriate and it mustn't leave this room. Even just holding it in gives me chills—"

"Get on it with it, brainy boy! If I stay in here too long, people are gonna know I'm just sassing off to you instead of helping," Klara snaps, "so spit it out.”

"Well," Avery sighs as he shuts his eyes. He remembers every detail with precision (against his own free will, to be fair) and clears his throat, "it was shortly after I left to get water after Slowbro's last lap around the field..."

* * *

"Excuse me? Excuse me, I've a quick question...”

Avery walked with his usual gait as Slowbro trails behind him towards the Dojo. He wasn't an idiot, no sir, but even the greatest of the greatest sometimes lose track of their thoughts. It must be because of all the grand ideas that plant themselves into their ever expanding brains. He opened the door to silence and walked straight to the kitchen. Opening the shared fridge, Avery scanned the shelves for a refreshing bottle of water (or almost anything that could cool both his mouth and his temper), but found nothing. 

_Huh, that’s bizarre. Don’t we usually have tons? I’ll open more if I have to, but I know how Miss Honey takes offense to students messing with the food and drinks without her permission. She despises disorganization. It’d be best to ask._

In the eerie silence of the dimly lit dojo came sounds Avery couldn’t quite recognize - then again, they were soft enough that they could’ve been a part of Avery’s imagination. It wasn’t a terribly old building but has had its fair share of damage due to training. It could be entirely possible that it was a loose floorboard or something of that sort. However, even as he walked across the matted floor in the middle of the main room, the noises continued. It couldn’t be his own thoughts anymore - there was something (or, as he was yet to find out, some _one_ ) that had to be causing the silence to break. He stood and studied his situation before shaking it off entirely and continuing his trek towards the matron he so heavily respected. 

_I’m a gentleman, no?_

Avery’s feet continued to walk across the wooden floors before he heard something comprehensible. No longer was he having to wonder about the state of the building, but now was having to wonder about the voice. His pace stopped once again, and his eyes closed to focus.

_Hm… is that Miss Honey speaking? Hm… she seems to be in a good mood? If the small bursts of laughter are enough to go by. Yes, but she doesn’t sound busy – huh? Repeat that, ma’am, please? Yes. Okay, yes, stop for a deep breath. Okay, okay, yes! I’ve got the name. Though, I must admit…_

"Who the bloody hell is _Angelo_?” Avery scoffed as the ever growing repetition of the name in varied pitches in the background ultimately goes unnoticed by his tedious thought process, “Slowbro, lad, have YOU any clue who Angelo is?"

" _Bro._ "

"Well, if you remember, let me know, alright?" Avery said as he followed the sound of Honey’s voice, his partner following right behind him. 

“ _Sloooow…_ ” his Pokémon responded. He was probably telling Avery off, but the poor man didn’t realize this until after he had come in contact with the context of the name he heard. He walked to see a sliver of light shining through a door in the back of the dojo, and he perked up. 

“Oh, I imagine this is where she’d be! It’ll be a quick in-and-out question, don’t worry! Slowbro, stay there for a tad, will you?” Avery asked before he straightened his cravat and made a brisk walk towards the door, “and I’ll tell you if I learn anything about Angelo.” A white gloved hand slowly and politely twisted the doorknob and the door opened with ease. Dimmed lights reached his eyes and he cleared his throat quietly (as not to come across as rude).

“Hello? Miss Hon—”

_Oh._

Avery shut the door after his stunned expression wore off, unable to fathom what he’d come across. 

_I wasn't that thirsty, actually,_ he decided, _but at least now I know for a fact who Angelo is._

* * *

"So, in summary, Klara," Avery shakes his head, "I walked in on some ... _affection_." Clenching his teeth, Avery takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose before slipping his frames back on.

Klara sighs and moves her hands towards his. She looks sympathetic, if only for just one moment. Her bright, bold eyeshadow round the eyes that meet Avery's gaze in the space between them. He's shaking, shivering a tiny bit, obviously still conflicted. Maybe he's literally getting sick from this, and Klara would think it _hilarious_ if he did.

"I wouldn't make any of this up, Klara!" Avery's voice cracks, "I'm not someone who would think up such tall tales and ESPECIALLY not about what those two do on their own time!"

_Ha, what they do on their own time..._ Klara giggles under her breath, _apparently each other! Aha! You're a comedian, Klara! Cute AND funny! Haha, do each other! That's a classic—oh. Wait,_ her mind races with questions she can’t bear to say out loud _, Isn't he, like, 70? Gross...well, I do suppose if you can still do backflips like that with grace, then you can still get it up._

"Avery..." she starts with such a grimace on her usually chipper face, "why are you using fancy words to describe what happened?"

"Pardon?" Avery says as the comfort he assumed he was to be getting from Klara doesn't arrive.

“Oh, you know!" she teases with her _Signature Making Fun of Avery Voice_ , "things like ‘I may have intruded upon the dear dojo owners' intimate moments!’ Shut UP," she says while she cringes, "you're sugarcoating it! Never gonna get over it if you don't acknowledge that it happened. Just say you saw them goin' at it. Repeat after me—"

"Heavens, no! _NO_!” Avery panics, “I'm covering my ears and you can't make me say it!" 

"Say you saw them shagging! Say it! Say it and you can just leave it at that horrid image!" 

" _Klara_! You are _VULGAR_!"

"Not as vulgar as what you heard Miss Honey mutter, though, right!~" Klara regrets saying that as soon as it leaves her mouth and she has to shudder to try to rid herself of the images that have been conjured up in her head. How awful it is that her fellow student loves to nitpick at all the minute details! Thanks to this, now she must suffer. The way his eyes widened when she said what she did about the darling matron, though, causes her to raise a hand to her mouth and laugh. Avery resists the urge to lift the alarm clock that sits next to his table and slam it against Klara's smug smile - one that reminds him too much of a rabid Skitty.

"What I _HEARD_? You sicken me, Klara....Never, EVER, give up the poison type. It fits you way too well." 

"Not plannin' on it," Klara winks. There's quite the awkward silence between the two before Klara stands up off of the bed and begins to pace around the floor. 

"...Say, weren't they just finishing up battling around that time, Aves? Maybe your timeline’s whacked.” 

"Yes, they WERE! So it shocked me to see what I did! I saw them walk into the kitchen after getting back from the battlefield. There was no way it could've only been 15 minutes in between!"

" _Wait_. You mean, like," Klara taps a finger to her chin and taps her foot on the ground, "like when they got back and told us from the kitchen that we were going to have stamina training? You know, like, spur of the moment stamina training? Around that time? It seemed like it. Usually Master never gives us any exercise without at least an hour in advance to prepa—"

" _Klara_ ," Avery whispers with a stumble. The interruption catches her off guard and she turns. Uncharacteristically, her hand rises to land on Avery's shoulder and she gently pats it. His voice sounds like it's holding back tears and he's holding his head in his hands. 

"Yeah?" 

"You're not a complete _dunce_ , so tell me this—"

"Oh, okay, now _that's_ a smartarse thing to say! And to a young, cute lady like myself who listened to your problems!"

"Klara, hush! I'll apologize genuinely later! So," Avery questions while he buries his face deeper into gloved hands, "Why do you think, Klara... why do you think he'd assign us students, _ALL OF US IN THE DOJO,_ to training in the Wetlands immediately after getting back from the battlefield with Miss Honey?" 

"They never showed up to watch us, did they..." Klara’s voice trails off as the culmination of all this discussion comes to slap her in the face.

"Again, Klara, _why_ would he assign us training so _suddenly?_ " The question lingers in the air as the awkward realization creeps up their backs and they shift their attention towards the truth. 

"No!" Klara gasps, "They must've planned it!"

"They're so busy… they would've _had_ to have planned it! In a rush. No wonder the door was left unlocked…”

"Aw, Avery! You ruined it for them!" Klara teases; she comes to regret this as she sees the baby blue of Avery’s eyes redden like fire, angered. 

"KLARA!” Avery snaps as the patience in him finally wears thin, “MUST I REMIND YOU THAT THEY DIDN'T KNOW I WAS THERE?!” The pillow off of his bed floats up and throws itself at Klara with force before Avery tries again and again to pull the stupid headband off of her head, “I WALKED IN, SAW THEM GOING AT EACH OTHER LIKE DITTOS AT A DAYCARE AND _LEFT SWIFTLY AFTERWARDS_! WITH AS LONG AS THEY WERE IN THERE BEFORE ANY OF US SAW THEM AGA—"

The door to the bedroom swings open and there in its doorway stands the duo of the hour - the aforementioned Mustard and Honey. Both look terribly confused and the duo of trainers, standing and yelling at one another, stare back with anxiety. Klara holds the makeup stained pillow and panics by tossing it back onto Avery’s bed. She pats his shoulder again and pouts, quivering bottom lip and all.

“Oh, Aves!” Klara says as she unexpectedly hugs onto Avery as if she wasn’t just yelling about the accidental walk-in herself, “I hope you get to feeling better soon! You’ve a temperature, I think. See, even Master and Miss Honey want to see if you’re alright,” Klara’s pink hair flips as she turns to the two older of the four in the room with the pout still stuck on her lips, “he seems really sick for sure, you two...take care of him!” With this, her heels clack against the floor as she walks out. Her back is turned to Avery, so she doesn’t see that he mouths a kind _screw you!_ as she exits. 

“Did...” Avery begins before his body and mind decide enough is enough. A moment of silence passes before Avery starts to sob a little, hiccups accompanying the tears a short few minutes after they had begun.

“No, no, I’m so SORRY!” Avery cries as he stands up to cry onto Mustard’s shoulder. The man can’t really do anything but awkwardly hold Avery in his arms, gently patting his back while he looks to Honey confusedly. 

“Sorry?” he asks, “For what? You don’t have to apologize for being sick, boy.”

“Exactly,” Honey parrots while a hand reaches to brush through Avery’s hair, “being sick is natural! Is it that you're upset about Klara trying to baby you like that?”

“I’m _soooo_ sorry,” Avery weeps, “I _lied_ to you! I disrespected you two and I must confess before the guilt eats me _alive_!” 

“You must’ve lied about being sick,” Mustard guessed, “well, at least I don’t have to worry much anymore about wondering if the training wore your skinny little frame out! I wondered if I had made a mistake by assigning that, but there were—”

“No! No, I don’t care about that! I’m just SO SORRY that I ruined something so _private_! So _intimate_! Just say you’re upset with me for accidentally walking in on your _romp!_ I know taking care of us students leaves no time for you to have any time to show sensuality! It was rude of me to even leave training to come and try to talk to you… I didn’t _know_ and I _beg_ for your forgiveness!” Avery cries while he takes his glasses off and continues to guiltily sob onto the fabric of Mustard’s jacket as Honey stares at her husband with a panicked, flustered glance. Busted.

“It’s fine! _Fine_ ,” Honey laughs nervously while her face reddens, “it’s _fine_ , Avery, love! _Fine_! And we’ll leave it at that. Just that. No harm done! That’s all! Right?” she asks Mustard as he tries with all the kindness he can to get Avery off of him, “ _right_?”

“Right! Right, yes...don’t...worry?” Mustard nervously responds, “I mean… well, really now, I’ve never really had to tell someone, and _especially_ someone that’s a student of mine, that they’re forgiven for, uh… accidentally knowing about one of yesterday’s… _double battles_?” He pairs the last two words with air quotes in hopes that gets his point across with an awkward laugh; all Mustard gets in response is Avery looking up with a slight grimace and Honey softly, but _offendedly_ , slapping him on the shoulder with a gasp. Avery nods, still a bit shaken up, and backs out of Mustard’s arms before something clicks. In an instant, he turns back around in bewilderment.

“Wait— only _one_ of yesterday’s?” Avery exclaims with a pale face, “ _one?!”_ Avery zones out as Mustard realizes his slip-up and turns with urgency to follow Honey as she stomps out of the room, trying to apologize profusely. Busted. Again. 

He is alone in the room again, Avery is, and his problem is solved – or it would’ve been, had Mustard not let loose about the other sessions. In an instant and without hesitation, he feels his voice call out for someone unexpected. 

“Klara? Come back in here, please! I’ve _news_ to tell you…” 

**Author's Note:**

> this...i have no real excuse for this lmaooo. it was a joke between me and a friend that started like... a week or so after IoA came out and it's always been one of our go-to jokes and it's still SO funny?? insanely so. 
> 
> thank you SO much for reading this mess of a fic lmao... feel free to leave kudos, comments, and bookmarks!~ <3


End file.
